Clamp truck



April 21, o. NORLING 1,801,971

CLAMP TRUCK Filed April 9, 1929- Fig 1 F142 5 Fig. 6

ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 21, 1931 l i I i UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE I oscAR nonrme, or nnniinnnn, wasrmm'ron i 1 cLAMP 'rnncx V I Application filed a ril 9, iazajsma m. 353,705.

the' elamping prongs pass 'withinthe sides alternate design. 7 of the truck to provide greater adjustment In the drawings the device'is shown as it and fals'o in which the clamping members would be made, wherein numeral 1 indicates invention is a clamp truck in which Figure dis a view showing a prongof an automaticallylock in the end of the truck the truck, numeral 2 the channel, and nuwhen, the load is applied. 7 ineral 3 the prongs.

Z The Object of the invention is to provide The truck 1 may be of any suitable design a clamp truck whichwill handle both large orarrangementor of any type. In the deand small articles in which the holding Sign shownthe truck is formed with side 10 prongs may pass inside of'the' sides of the memberset and 5 and cross members 6 with truck so'th'at a comparativelysmall article handles 7 extending upward at the rear. It may b i ed i w1ll be appreciatedthat the handles 7 may Another object of the invention is to proh t l- V s vide a clamp truck in which the holding The channel 2 is. located at the lower end prongs will automatically lock in any posi- Ofthe s de members 4 and hand held bya tion. v strap 8 wit -hbolts 9; The vchannel is formed A further object of the invention is to pro- Wi h a groove 10 having a projection llat Vide a clamp truck inwhich the means for the bottom and a large projection 12 at the 7 locking the holding prongsis located at the t p xt nding outward slightly farther than :0 base of the prongs. the projection at the bottom and the inner/I0 And a still further object of the invention surfa e 0 h projection at the top is pror is to provide a clamp truck having a comvided with DQtCheS 13 that may be V shaped, paratively large gripping range which is ,asshownin Figure 3, or of any other suitable of asimple and economical construction. shape. 1

With these ends in View the invention'em- 7 It will be noted that the base 14 of the 7 bodies a truck having a channel at the lower p ong .1 a so h t w l Slide in end with holding prongs slidably mounted sldtlOand the upperedge of the base "is in the channel, upwardly extending levers p fl vid d withfa'proj'ectlon 15, which islofor operating the prongs, a foot lever for df lt h 1. 6nd and Which Wi l e g g 7 r 3 Operating the upwardly extending levers, he notches 13 in the channel so that-itwill so and means for locking the prongs in the j; flufi9 1 i lyh0 and 9 e p g n y channels. pos1tion. Itwill be observed, however, that Other features and advantages of the ina 00 13 thelofld iSTeIIlOVed mt e t r vention will appear from the following ded fthe prqng he base of the prong will scription taken in connection with the draw- Test agamst h m lj 0f t sl 10 jugs h i V so that the pro e ct1on15 w1ll clear thenotches Figure 1 is a front view of the truck with nd P the P Q g S 1I1 the i the prongs extended partially outward. nelahoweveri s soon as the loadls PP Figure 2 is a side view of the truck with. to the Outer end 9f the Prong 3 the upper part broken away showing a portion of the operating levers.

Figure 3 is a view showing the channel and base of the prong.

projection'15will fit into one of the notches 13 and positively hold and lock the prong. to

prevent itssliding in the channel. The outer end ofthe prong 3may be provided with'a lip L 45 Figure 4 is a P View Showing 17119516- that will slide'under an object to readily 95 B0 in different channels. true arrangement; Ofth? P hold it on the truck. The bases of each of the" Flgure 5 5 a vlejw Showmg an teprongs-3 are pivotally attached tolevers 17 arrangement 1n WhlCll a double channel is by pins 18 in slotted holes-19' and the levers provided with the prongs at each side held are ivotally mounted on the frame of the by pins 20 as shown. The upper ends iii! Q '1. L LL edge will instantly move forward so that the of the levers are attached by bars 21 to a central lever 22 and the lever 22 is provided with a projecting bar 23 which is attached to a foot lever 24 through a bar 25, as shown in Figure 2. The foot lever 24 is mounted in a bracket 26 at the rear of the truck and it will be observed that as the outer end of the lever 24 is pushed downward the inner end will raise and force the bar 22 upward thereby moving the levers 1.7 from the position shown in full lines in Figure 1 to the position shown in dotted lines so that the prongs 3 will move inward and grip an object against which the truck may be placed. It is only neces sary to press downward slightly on the projection 23 to release the prongs from the object as this will produce a motion opposite to that of clamping the object. In the design shown the truck is provided with wheels 27 which are mounted in brackets 28 at the rear, as shown in Figure 2. In the design shown in Figure 5 the channel 2 is made with two of the grooves 10 and the base of the prong at one side may be held in one of the grooves withthe base of the other prong in the other groove so that the bases will pass each other at the center and permit the prongs to practically close at the center and also permit them to extend outward a considerable distance at the sides. It will be observed that this arran ement will provide a very wide range of a justment for the clamping members of the truck. In the design shown in Fi re 6the prong 3 is madewith a short 0 -set portion between the prong and base so that the prong will be adaptable to receive merchandise of practically any type. It will also be observed that the prong may be of any other suitable type or size.

t will be understood that other changes may be made in the construction without departing from the spirit of the invention. One of these changes may be in the design or arrangement of the channel, another may be in the use of other means for holding the channel to the truck, another may be in the use of other means for locking the prongs in the channel, and still another may be in the use of other means for adjusting the position of therprongs.

e construction will be readily understood from the foregoing description. In use the device may be provided as shown and it will be observed that the truck may be placed against an objectand the lever 24:

ressed downward so that the prongs 3 will forced inward against the object and as soon as the object is firmly gripped the upper end of the truck is tilted slightly backward so that theload on the prongs will move the projection 15 into one of the notches 13 and, thereby automatically lock the position of.

the prongs to prevent them moving laterally in the channel. It will also be observed that I with the prongs arranged in this manner they may slide inward beyond the sides of the truck and thereby be within the limits thereof so that they may grip an object smaller than the width of the truck and may also extend outward a considerable distance from the edge of the truck. By arranging the parts of the truck in this manner it is possible to provide a maximum adjustment and at the same time lock and hold the prongs at their bases instead of at some remote point.

Having thus fully described the invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

Ina clamp truck of the character described, a truckrframe, a channel member mounted in the lower end of the frame, said channel member having a groove therethrough with notches in the roove formed in the upper outer edge of t 1e channel member, prongs with T shaped bases slidable in the groove of the said channel and provided with projections adaptable to engage the notches in the channel, and means for operating the said prongs said bases being comparatively short and permitting the said prongs to pass within the side limits of the frame.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

OSCAR NORLING. 

